Binance’s Fiat Integration May Lead Cryptocurrency Exchanges to Move to Malta

[micko09]

Earlier this month, Binance, one of the most widely utilized multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency trading platforms alongside the likes of Coinbase and Bitfinex, has established a bank account in Malta.

Malta’s Pro-Blockchain Legislation

As a part of the European Union (EU), Malta is a country with a strong financial industry and economy which contribute to the global financial structure. Contrary to the claims of some analysts early on, Malta isn’t a small country that has welcomed multi-billion cryptocurrency businesses to solely improve its economy; it is a well-established economy that has legitimate banking partners and that is a part of the international banking system.

The government of Malta has been pro-blockchain and cryptocurrency since 2017, and its officials worked closely with major cryptocurrency companies like Binance to facilitate the growth of the local cryptocurrency and blockchain sector.

In March, Binance officially and permanently relocated its headquarters to Malta, with the intent of establishing a partnership with local banks and financial institutions.

“We are very confident we can announce a banking partnership there soon. Malta is very progressive when it comes to crypto and fintech,” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, better known to the cryptocurrency community as CZ, said.

In a statement, the Binance team further emphasized that the government of Malta has made a firm decision to allow the cryptocurrency industry to become a large part of the country’s economy by passing a bill that would allow local authorities to regulate blockchain-driven operations.

“An E.U. member nation, Malta’s government is pro-blockchain, and is actively building a supportive regulatory and technical infrastructure. Plans for a Malta Digital Innovation Authority were revealed last month, and the country is in the process of formalizing a ‘Virtual Currency Act’ that will pave the way for a first-of-its-kind auditing framework made specifically to regulate blockchain-driven investment operations such as token sales,” the Binance team explained.

Bank Account, At Last

This week, Binance successfully obtained a bank account and secured a partnership with a local bank in Malta, opening the possibility of the integration of fiat currency pairs, such as the US dollar, Euro, and the British pound.

Many cryptocurrency exchanges have struggled to obtain banking partners over the years, and even Bitfinex, one of the biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms, had its conflict with Taiwanese banks in the past.

The establishment of a bank account for Binance to handle its fiat-to-crypto operations could eventually lead to an influx of cryptocurrency exchanges entering the Maltese blockchain sector, primarily to benefit from the government’s pro-blockchain legislation and to receive support from local banks.

In South Korea, a region wherein the majority of major banks fully support cryptocurrency businesses and operations, major platforms like Bithumb and Korbit suffered from unstable banking services in late 2017, which analysts argue led to a decline in trading volume.

Financial and banking stability provided by Maltese banks could lure in cryptocurrency businesses in the short to long-term, especially cryptocurrency exchanges that are looking to integrate fiat trading pairs.

original source: https://www.ccn.com/binances-fiat-integration-may-lead-cryptocurrency-exchanges-to-move-to-malta/

[Lampaster]

Binance has been talking about this for a long time, but I have not seen the possibility to use Fiat on Binance. Another cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex also added a dollar for trading but now this feature is available only for corporate clients. Malta can become a capital for cryptocurrency trading

[Kemarit]

Let's see how it goes, Binance has already set the precence by moving to Malta to continue giving us the services they really wanted to offer us crypto traders. And they really made a good decision because we all know how Malta is very friendly to crypto verse. But opening a bank account and secured a partnership with a local bank in Malta is another step that Binance has taken, of course there's a lot of impact on this as other Exchanges who are extremely under pressured from their government and with all the memo coming out regarding banks dealing with crypto, its just a matter of time before another big exchanges will go and move to Malta. So its too early to call but at least trading exchanges has something of a fallback in case their government clamp them down.

[darkangel11]

They are moving because this government is so pro Bitcoin that it's not giving them any trouble, unlike Japan. IMO it's not that good for BTC since Binance might be involved in USDt manipulation, and this might coincide with them failing to get a trading license in Japan and having to move to Malta.
You decide if them running around from country to country instead of facing the problems and clearing things out once and for all is actually good for Crypto. It's good for Malta because it's a huge business that is coming there, but not for us, ordinary users.

[figmentofmyass]

They are moving because this government is so pro Bitcoin that it's not giving them any trouble, unlike Japan. IMO it's not that good for BTC since Binance might be involved in USDt manipulation, and this might coincide with them failing to get a trading license in Japan and having to move to Malta.

could be, but then it seems that moving to malta kills two birds with one stone. USDT has always been used as a substitute for banking. now that they've secured banking, they might be able to drop USDT entirely.

You decide if them running around from country to country instead of facing the problems and clearing things out once and for all is actually good for Crypto. It's good for Malta because it's a huge business that is coming there, but not for us, ordinary users.

i think CZ is acting more like a cowboy and waving his dick around, at least as much as he is running from japan. he understands binance's position as one of the largest exchanges in the world, something that japan actually wants.

any business should be able to exit to a friendlier jurisdiction if compliance becomes too expensive or non-compliance becomes too risky. they aren't in this for charity.

[richardsNY]

any business should be able to exit to a friendlier jurisdiction if compliance becomes too expensive or non-compliance becomes too risky. they aren't in this for charity.

It tells a lot about Japan's restrictions if even Binance doesn't think it's worthy or able to get itself registered there. I would even start to think that Japan is doing this on purpose to grant its local crypto economy, which largely thrives on a few main exchanges, the freedom to keep growing without worrying about disruptive competitors. Binance is clearly a disruptive force with how they have been growing aggressively, and there doesn't seem to be anything that can stop them. While Japan is doing more than well in crypto terms, they operate a very centralized market without allowing competitors do flow in....

[lokanot0]

This is a very good news for the country of Malta. Their Government supports Bitcoin unlike other countries that bans them. The Government of Malta sees that there is a big opportunity of economic growth in the world of Crypto.

[Proton2233]

This is a very good news for the country of Malta. Their Government supports Bitcoin unlike other countries that bans them. The Government of Malta sees that there is a big opportunity of economic growth in the world of Crypto.

I do not live in Malta so I am not concerned about the effect of cryptocurrency recognition for this country. I like that this country creates conditions for the functioning of cryptocurrency exchanges. The whole community will benefit from this and Malta will receive its dividends. After the Binance add to the trading dollar, I am sure that the price of bitcoin on this exchange will rise by 70-100 dollars.